Sharavathi pumped storage project in Western Ghats faces fresh opposition over environmental concerns

By A Representative 

Shankar Sharma, power and climate policy analyst from Sagara in Karnataka’s Western Ghats, has strongly objected to the in-principle approval of the proposed 2,000 MW Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project (PSP) within the Sharavathi Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary. In a letter to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, with a copy marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sharma warned that the clearance process appears compromised and urged an indefinite postponement of the scheduled public hearings in Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada districts.

“The environmentally conscious people in the state are shocked to know that an in-principle nod has been given for such a massive project in the heart of a legally protected sanctuary in the Western Ghats, one of the world’s eight biodiversity hotspots,” Sharma wrote. He pointed out that key studies, including cumulative impact assessments and carrying capacity of the Sharavathi river basin, remain incomplete. He also flagged irregularities such as the absence of forest clearance for transmission lines and the fact that the Detailed Project Report has not been shared with the public, rendering public hearings ineffective.

Quoting the site inspection report by the Deputy Inspector General of Forests, MoEF&CC Regional Office, Bengaluru, Sharma stressed that the ministry’s own officer had “unambiguously not recommended approval” for the project, citing the risk of landslides, flooding, and massive damage to flora and fauna in the fragile sanctuary. “Can the Ministry and its subordinate entities afford to wantonly neglect such a critical recommendation?” he asked.

Sharma further alleged that the project execution contract may have already been awarded to a major contractor, with reports of advance payments, even before statutory clearances. “In light of these revelations about possible extraneous considerations, the people are further agitated at the lack of transparency in the decision-making process,” he said.

In a separate appeal to media houses, Sharma emphasised that the struggle against the project is “far from over,” despite recent reports that the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has rejected forest clearance citing Western Ghats damage and landslide risks. He urged journalists to continue highlighting what he called “a deeply flawed and opaque clearance process.”

“Backed by 45 years of power sector experience, I can say there is not a single factor in favour of this project, whereas the societal and ecological costs are massive,” Sharma said. He argued that alternatives such as battery energy storage systems, synchronous condensers, and demand-side management are far more viable than carving out 150 hectares of thick forest land inside a wildlife sanctuary.

Calling the Sharavathi PSP a “ghastly project” that violates the Wildlife Protection Act and the Forest Conservation Act, Sharma appealed to the ministry to uphold its constitutional mandate of environmental protection. “The ministry must first convince itself, and then the larger society, whether such destruction of irreplaceable forests and biodiversity can ever be justified in the name of development,” he said.